This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

If Bea couldn't end the prayers, then she would change their meaning.

One by one, she found the roots of devotion buried in the corrupted thoughts—the love and loyalty that once belonged to the temple's guardian Nāgaji and its priest. Then, like a careful sculptor carving fresh lines into stone, she began to twist them.

Bea listened to the looping chant and began to change it one fragment at a time. Instead of trying to overwrite the whole prayer, she slipped tiny substitutions into the rhythm: the name "Nāgaji" softened to "Nāga," the phrase "high‑blood guardian" became "pure‑blood protector." The mental chorus barely noticed the alterations, yet the meaning tilted with each word she rewrote.

But there was no rejection to these changes by the lingering mental obsession of the turned congregation, because technically the alterations Bea made were more in line their their true beliefs. After all, the importance of the mythical Naga in their hearts still outweighed the Temple Protector and High Priest.

And so, discretely, the focus of the prayer shifted, latching onto something new—Serena's guardian. Its new Naga-like form, radiant and fluid, perfectly mirrored the image in the worshippers' imaginations and faded memories of religious text. Their faith flowed toward it like iron filings drawn to a magnet.

The battlefield began to respond.

The oily surface of the river shimmered and lightened. The air trembled with faint overlapping hymns, a sound that was half-choral and half-deranged, but no longer so hostile to the Azure Serpent Queen and her attendants.

The psychic weight pressing down on everyone, slowing down their thoughts and mobilization of spiritual power, lifted slightly.

But power never came without price.

The moment the faith fully latched onto Serena's guardian, its body began to tremble. A faint black sheen rippled beneath its transparent skin, spreading through its liquid form like veins of ink through glass. Serena gasped, feeling the pain through their bond. The guardian's roar warped into a strained hiss, its graceful form convulsing as the abyssal taint burned within it.

The redirected faith, though under Bea's control, was not pure—it was an abyssal toxin wrapped in prayer.

The radiant guardian flickered, the edges of its body turning murky. Cracks of light split through the water as abyssal corruption and the elemental guardian's own consciousness clashed violently. However, the faith of tens, is not hundreds, of thousands of people, turned or not, was not something a mid-grade spiritual creature could content with. Its eyes slowly began to shift into a bright crimson, before that crimson became gradually consumed by an almost too bright and sickly gold. The telltale eye colour of a mid-grade abyssal.

Kain turned sharply toward Aegis, knowing they couldn't delay any longer. "Draw it out!"

Aegis's eyes glowed as he slammed his palms into the ground, and lines of black earth cracked outward like roots. Pillars of obsidian surged up and split into branching veins, piercing into the Elemental Guardian's corrupted body. Immediately, black smoke began seeping through the conduits, the taint siphoned away in pulsing streams.

Its thrashing calmed down and as it bowed its head a small object could be seen stuck to the back of its neck if one looked closely enough. A spore that grew by the second.

Chewy's tiny body swelled with each gulp of that expelled corruption. With every sloppy swallow, the guardian's surface cleared, regaining its shimmer.

The process looked brutal—like watching a network of needles and tubes draining poison from a dying patient.

Little by little, the guardian's agony faded and a stable loop formed where it received the baptism of immense faith while the corrupted elements were removed.

Its luminous body solidified again, now gleaming with a purer radiance.

Even the river's reflections seemed clearer, though streaks of darkness still lingered beneath the surface. The once black and sluggish channels now moved with greater haste and a lighter colour; faint faces that had been twisted within the water blurred and drifted away, their outlines fading as if released from torment. The crooked houses that had leaned at impossible angles seemed to steady; tree trunks regained some of their natural color and the thick, red sap no longer bled freely. Even the stench of decay lifted, replaced by the faint scent of damp earth after rain.

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Naturally, the abyssal serpent noticed.

The abomination shrieked, and the very world seemed to convulse. The corrupted river erupted into chaos, faces resurfacing and distorting as if in agony. The half‑ruined city responded in kind—walls quivered, half‑reformed houses groaned, and trees bent as though resisting invisible chains trying to reclaim them.

The domain pulsed like a heart, fighting against Bea's manipulation, dragging at every fragment of faith she had redirected. A storm of black water crashed around them as the creature sought to pull the devotion back to itself, to drown the purity now threading through the battlefield.

Bea's consciousness wavered under the backlash, the mental strain striking her tiny body like a shockwave. Within Kain's mind, the link flared with pain, and he staggered as a phantom ache lanced through his skull. 'It's trying to reclaim the the massive amount of faith I redirected!' she warned, her voice trembling under the pressure.

Serena immediately raised her hands, commanding her Elemental Guardian to shield them. Walls of surging water formed around Bea and Kain, glowing faintly. Aegis reinforced the outer edge, raising black stone that intertwined with the flowing barrier, the combined fortress glimmering like liquid glass and obsidian.

Still the creature chanted. The fused human face contorted, mouthing soundless words that rippled through every surface. The once‑clearing river darkened again; the remaining crooked trees bent toward the serpent, their bark splitting to reveal faint faces screaming along with it. The domain fought back.

For a heartbeat, the faint serenity restored to the ruins trembled on the edge of collapse. Faint clarity in the river, the steadying houses, the half‑purified air—all of it seemed to flicker, caught between the competing wills of devotion and corruption.

Above, the Queen and her attendants joined the defence. Her lotus dragon circled overhead, scattering petals of radiant water that fell like silver rain. Each petal that touched the black water hissed and burned it away, and the petals that landed on the high-grade abyssal sizzled and left obvious burn welts.

At the same time her lotus dragon finally seemed able to unfurl its domain.

It started with a low hum from the dragon's core, a single petal detaching and dissolving into mist. The mist rippled outward in waves, indigo-grade power surging through the corrupted land. Where it touched the black soil, the abyssal taint hissed and steamed away. Although High Level spiritual creatures couldn't absorb and purify abyssal taint like Kain and his contracts could, they had their own method—brute force destruction of abyssal energy if they were strong enough. Although such a method is completely unsuitable for more delicate operations such as purifying corrupted individuals.

From the cleared land, vines burst from the ground, thick and green, weaving through ash and reclaiming the ruins. The twisted trees cracked and straightened, fresh leaves unfurling to release a clean, floral scent that cut through the rot.

Rivers churned as lotus roots plunged in and then the river began to boil to destroy everything beneath its surface. Distorted faces beneath the surface twisted, then faded to peaceful wisps, ascending as freed spirits.

The water cleared, lotus flowers sprouting along it. it had returned to normal...somewhat, since all the life within had either been turned or killed.

The domain enforced renewal: water cleansed, plants regrown, turning purgatory to verdant sanctuary. The snake abyssal recoiled, body thrashing as a white mist emitted within the domain absorbed its miasma. Its scales dulled, eyes dimming under the dragon's rule—at the highest level, once the battle between domains is lost, the battle is typically already over.

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Once the Queen gained the upper hand, the serpent's death came swiftly. Its final roar rang through the air as its last act of defiance, as its vast body disintegrated, leaving only ripples spreading across the newly cleared river.

For a long moment, no one moved. Then the cries began—soft at first, then rising in waves as the Azure Serpent locals, mainly those that came with the Queen, fell to their knees. The land was restored, the air clean, the water bright once more... but with the environment restored, the true loss stood out.

Streets once filled with laughter and colour now stretched empty beneath the pale light. Beautiful again, yes—but lifeless and hollow.

The Queen stood at the center of it all, her lotus dragon coiled silently behind her. There was pain in her eyes, before she drew a steady breath and turned toward her crying attendants.

"Begin reconstruction," she said, her voice calm, firm. "Canvass the district. Catalogue all losses, and report any lingering corruption. This city will stand again."

Her attendants bowed deeply before dispersing, and the refugees followed to help. They could empathize with the locals' sense of loss.

As they set to work among the ruins, the faint sound of hammers and shifting stone replaced the echoes of battle—a fragile promise that life, though wounded, would return here.